How to Play Minesweeper: Rules, Numbers and First Moves

To play Minesweeper, you uncover squares on a grid while avoiding the hidden mines. Every safe square you uncover shows a number: how many mines touch that square, including diagonals. You use those numbers to work out where the mines are, flag them, and uncover everything else. Uncover every safe square and you win. Uncover a mine and the game is over.

That's the whole game. The rest of this guide explains the controls, walks through a first game, and covers what to do when the numbers run out.

What the numbers mean

Every square has up to eight neighbors: above, below, left, right and the four diagonals. A revealed number counts the mines among them.

  a b c
  d 2 e
  f g h

This 2 means exactly two of the eight squares a to h are mines. On its own that doesn't tell you which. The trick is to combine it with the numbers around it.

A revealed square with no number is blank: none of its neighbors are mines. Because every neighbor of a blank square is safe, the game opens them all automatically. That chain reaction is what clears a big patch of the board with one click.

The controls

Flags are reminders. They mark squares you are sure are mines, so you don't click them by accident. They don't affect scoring, and flagging is optional.

Chording is the shortcut experienced players use constantly. When a number already has that many flags around it, click the number itself and every other covered square around it opens at once. If one of your flags is wrong, chording will hit a mine, so only chord when you're sure.

Difficulty levels

Higher mine density means more numbers bunched together and more chances of an unavoidable guess. Start on Beginner until the basic deductions feel automatic.

Your first move

On Poozee, your first click is always safe and always opens an area, because the mines are placed after you click. Clicking somewhere near the middle tends to open a nice big area, but anywhere works.

A worked example

Say your first click opens an area, and along one edge of it you see this. Letters are covered squares, · is open ground, and │ is the edge of the board:

│ a  b  c  d
│ 1  1  1  ·
│ ·  ·  ·  ·

1. Start with the number that touches the fewest covered squares. The first 1 is against the wall, so it touches only a and b. One of them is a mine.
2. Compare it with its neighbor. The second 1 touches a, b and c. Its one mine is already in {a, b}, so c is safe. Uncover it.
3. Keep going with the new information. The third 1 touches b, c and d. Since c is safe, its mine is b or d. When c opens, its number will usually settle the question.

This comparison, "these two numbers share squares, so what's left over?", is the heart of Minesweeper. Our guide to Minesweeper patterns turns it into shortcuts like 1‑2‑1 and 1‑2‑2‑1 that you can spot at a glance.

Two rules that solve most squares

Before anything fancy, look for these two situations. Together they solve most of what you'll see on Beginner:

• Count matches covered squares. If a 2 touches exactly two covered squares, both are mines. Flag them.
• Count already satisfied. If a 2 already touches two flagged mines, every other covered square around it is safe. Chord it or open them one by one.

Pro tip: Work along one edge of the open area at a time. Each square you open adds a number, and that number usually solves the square next to it.

When you have to guess

Sometimes the numbers truly can't separate two squares. The classic case is a mine that could be in either of two squares, with every number around them treating them the same. No logic can help there. (How often that happens depends on the level: see Minesweeper 50/50s.)

When you do have to guess:

• Guess as early as possible. Losing a guess in the first minute costs much less than losing it after ten.
• Prefer a square that would give you useful information. A safe corner square often reveals a low number that opens more of the board.
• Use the mine counter near the end. If one mine is left and you know it's in one of two squares, every other covered square is safe.

Keep playing

Now try it on a real board: open Minesweeper on Beginner and solve a few games using just the two rules above. When you want to get faster, learn the Minesweeper patterns that expert players recognize instantly.